Emanuel Steward: I think Tommy and Ray are superior fighters than the fighters today"

[Real King Kong]

Thank you.

I used to be a bit of an armchair boxing historian but it's been long that I really delved into seriously. It is because of Pacquiao that brought me back again to boxing.

Sure, I've watched the championship fights all these years (decades) but the time wherein boxing has been downgraded was the time also that I stopped watching heads, shoulders and toes, everything including the toenails. hehe

But I am also much of an armchair boxer due to my training. But what is appalling really are the reasoning behind some of the people of this board. If I would scrutinize everything, it would be of no end.

But likewise I am just like everybody else with their own "preferences" (an upgrade from "biases") in terms of "who is better" and "why that style is better"...but we all learn humility when we see our idols get peppered by the very same boxer we abhorred.

The thing is that boxing is synonymous with life. And that is we cannot isolate techniques from emotions/ego. A boxer with superlative skills can also be deterred by his own ego or a boxer can also be warrior-like in his guts and bravado but yet lacking in skills.

But boxing is beyond skills and emotion. Sometimes the most neanderthal-like boxer can upstage the most skillful...or sometimes the one that shows the most "will" can beat the most disciplined of all.

That is why I love this sport. MMA may be grander because it can dazzle one with the arrays of "beating an opponent" but since boxing is an isolation of "punching contest", it has transcended into an art form.

This to me is why a two-fisted person can be as complex and let alone 2 two-fisted fighters can present a multitude of complexities. It's like Yin and Yang and the whole cosmos and the universe within the ring and trying to settle on "who is the better fighter".

As complex as pugilists are, thereby we also see the simplest of reasoning in this board. Thus in effect, is still complex. It adds color to our daily poetry. It affects our daily painting.

Thus I love the poetry within boxing. Because I may not be the most logical of all posters, but I can guarantee you that I can present as much challenges in thinking the ways of boxing though not necessarily "solving" anything.

Just blabbering. And that's why I am here. I blabber with you guys.

We're all blabbers but with a tinge of boxing as our interest. (or scorecard girls!)

Peace.

thanks Confucius. btw...if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it...

[sicko]

Can't Disagree With Him On That!

I don't think many fighters today would have made it out of that Hearns, Hagler, Duran and Leonard ERA, I think any of those fighters in their Prime would have destroyed 99% of the fighters in their division today

[Heru]

if pac had made it to 126lbs and got KOd by sanchez i doubt he would have gotten the push he did in this era. makes me wonder if he would have made the vast improvements we saw from 130 and beyond. or would freddie roach push him to the side like he did to conception to work with more successful fighters. just a thought.

I highly doubt it. This kid was stopped by nobodies at flyweight and he was still able to work himself to heights he'd never experienced before. Getting stopped by Salvador Sanchez at 126 is a huge improvement over Singsorat and the other journeymen at 112.

You can't teach the level of hard work, dedication, and mental strength Pacquiao has.

The real questions for me is "Would Pacquiao have been able to be at the lower weight classes for long if he had to deal with the the same day weigh-ins that were in place before in the 70s and 80s?"

I maintain that Pacquiao would have been elite in any area (assuming Roach was his trainer), but he wouldn't have been able to do all that he's done if this were the 70s and 80s.

[Real King Kong]

I highly doubt it. This kid was stopped by nobodies at flyweight and he was still able to work himself to heights he'd never experienced before. Getting stopped by Salvador Sanchez at 126 is a huge improvement over Singsorat and the other journeymen at 112.

You can't teach the level of hard work, dedication, and mental strength Pacquiao has.

The real questions for me is "Would Pacquiao have been able to be at the lower weight classes for long if he had to deal with the the same day weigh-ins that were in place before in the 70s and 80s?"

I maintain that Pacquiao would have been elite in any area (assuming Roach was his trainer), but he wouldn't have been able to do all that he's done if this were the 70s and 80s.

i can agree with this. interesting point about the same day weigh in thing too. the sticking point is roach being his trainer though. manny didn't become roachs main charge until he had some measure of success...i'm just wondering if he would have found the same success in that era is all.

[jri9d0]

I can't argue against this, to add, Ray and Tommy wouldn't use the negotiating table to squander fights like today's fighters do they were the poster child's to the term "people's champ."

[Champ Is Here]

Im tired of steward stanning on these old school fighters

THIS IS 2010, NOT 1985

[jrosales13]

I agree...

Hell IMO the WWs of the 90's IMO are superior than the fighters of today

Whitaker early 90's>All

Oba Carr>The 2nd tier WWs.

Then you add Tito...

Damn I miss those days.

[jri9d0]

I agree...

Hell IMO the WWs of the 90's IMO are superior than the fighters of today

Whitaker early 90's>All

Oba Carr>The 2nd tier WWs.

Then you add Tito...

Damn I miss those days.

Especially Tito....

[qwerty07]

I can't argue against this, to add, Ray and Tommy wouldn't use the negotiating table to squander fights like today's fighters do they were the poster child's to the term "people's champ."

They wouldn't also turn down an "easy fight" that would make them 50+ million dollars, especially if they called themselves "money."

[Deep Blue 1997]

In a quote from Geoff Ciani's Interview with hall of fame trainer Emanuel Steward, he was asked how he believes Hearns and Leonard would fare in today’s welterweight division, and he said this.....



Do you posters agree with how he feels Leonard and Hearns would do in today's boxing?

i would have to agree on Leonard and Hearns being the top dogs at 147 if they were fighting today.

but then again, i would never consider 147 to be Manny or Floyd's best weight.